Soldering iron



Apr. 1o, 1923 F. L..y KYGER SOLDERING IRON Filed Feb. 26, 1921 [W4/5555 f/,w//rLA/mff INVENTOR.

aBY

A TTORIYEY` Patented Apr. l0, 1923.

1,451,578 PATENT OFFICE.

i FRANK I.. KYGER, or sTREAToR, ILLINOIS.

soLDERING IRON.

Application ined February 2e, 1921. 'serial No. 448,091.

To all lwhom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK L. KYGER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Streator, in the county of` La Salle and State o`f Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Soldering Irons, of

which the n following is -fa specification.

vT-his invention relates to soldering irons of the internally heated type and aims to provide a complete iron which a workman can conveniently` carry along with him wherever he may go, and which can be used y equally well for bench work.

One of the principal objects lof the invention isv to provide a self-heated soldering iron having connection means for coupling it up with ka gas tank whereby it is pos sible to use it wherever the services of a soldering iron is required.

An additional object is to provide a solder- 7 f ing iron of the character specified having 4interchangeableconnections adapting it for use either with water, coal or natural gases, such. connections being also interchange able to transform the iron into av torch, when desired, for welding small materials.

A further "object is to provide a soldering iron so constructed as to utilize the heat of the flame to the maximum extent and with out any tendency to smoke the work; means being provided for regulating and adjusting the flame to heat the iron to the desired degree, and without the necessity of laying the tool down. z i

An additional object is to provide any internally heated iron khaving guard lmeans so designed so as to permit working lclose Vto the iron without burning or scorching the fingers. .Y

In addition to the above, the invention further contemplates the provision of a tool so constructed as tofhave the capacity of two soldering irons instead of onlyone; either iron being brought into proper .position for use simply' by the turning of the tool Ainthe hand of the user. f

W ith the above and other objects in view,`

`Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinaly section A view of the gas burner, and' Figure 7 a vertical longitudinal view of the gas burner.

The handle Sand the soldering Ahead 9.of

the soldering iron are both bored internally tov provide a longitudinally extendinggas and flame passage'running the entire length of the handle and terminating rearwardly of the soldering point l10 of thev head to provide, inthe latter, a flame lchamber 11. Between the handle and the soldering head is located gas and flame controlling means which'regulate the'flow of gas and adjust the flame so as to control the heating "of the soldering head. The control means includes a burner 12 and agas cock or shutoff 13, having a connecting coupling 14.

At its outermost end,the 'handle isprovided with a square face, against whichjrests the base flange of avcasting which may be screwed or otherwise fastened to the handle, as indicated at 15. This casting is provided with a'projecting portion terminating in a screw threaded shankl and provided', inwardly of the threaded shank, with a raised portion 17 lhaving a spiral thread or bead 17 as shown; The purpose` of/the casting is to enable the soldering iron to be connected up with a suitable 'source of supply, the

beaded portionoffering means for attachhandle when the gas is applied from` a gasA tank. The casting is, of course, provided with a central bore having alignment with the passage of the handle to provide an un obstructed passage way for the flow of the gas from the hose connection into and through the handle. fAt its inner end, thel handle is provided with a ferrule 19, interually threaded for threaded engagement with the gas-cock of the regulating means. The regulating means includes the burner 12 having a mixing chamber 13, wherein theA mixture is ignited and burns all the Way through to the liame chamber llotl the sol'h dering head. The burner is connected to the soldering head by means or" a nipple 2l,

. ing chamber isanair-control or shu'tter plate 24;, having air inlet port 24. This shutter is adapted to normally coverl suitable air ports provided lin the frontwall of themixing chamber and is slotted, as at 25, -to re- Y ceive a stop pin 26 which limits the-sidevv'ise adj ustmentof the shutter, when the latter is .moved to cover or uncover :the airports,

and thus increase or decrease ythe amount ot' -air admitted into the burner. The air shutter is provided with a lateral flange 2T which embraces the peripheral edge of the burner and guides the shutter in its adjust; ment. The gas shut-olf includes a valve'body 2S having a valve `mounted Ytherein 'and operf' able by means of a handle 29 :formed on the valve stem. By means of the gas-cock, the

`flow ot gas -to the 'burner is regulatedy and,l

it is kto be noted, that ythe same is located imniedfiately Yin lfront of the :handle so las to be adjustable by the same hand that grips kthe hagdle, thus rendering the adjusting operation simple and convenient. This is of vparticular advantage to a Workman Wlieiihe 'has both hands occupied, and it is desired yto adjust the flame Without stopping work Vor laying the'tool down. The gas tloivsthrough the needle valve casing 'and mixes with ythe air in the mixing chamber of the burner so that, lwhen ignited, it spurts Vforth in a jet of -flame ex-tending through the. nipple and into ,the Haine chamber of the soldering khead Where it serves to heat' the liron.. Ifor solder' ing purposes. y

The soldering head `9 of .the tool is 'substantially of rectangular cross section as shown to advantage in Figure t of the drawing, and 1s .provided With square faces' of relatively broad and narrow width, as .iii-- dicated at 30 and 80. respectivel v. yThe-sev faces cooperate with the soldering point l() to :provide a soldering iron capable of being used Where ordinarily several tools of vary `ing sizes would be required.4 The invention therefore provides the services o'l at least tivo irons instead ot one, since when one size iron `is desired` the tool may be turned so that the head` `cclgcwise, and when a larger size the Yrear of -tlie ysoldering' i vide outlet spaces 3l on opposite sides of the' lianie chamber and communicating' therewith through exhaust slot 32.. The reason for providing slots, rather than oljeliings for the exhaust-is to permit the soldering` head to b e 'castin one piece and to avoid machine Work. The 'flame Chamber ll., it to be noted, `entendsiniv'ard-ly' of the soldering head beyond the exhaust outlet and enables the flame to be directedjvith great Lforce against point, thus concentrating most of :the eat 'at the .place Where it .is most needed to quickly and #aides quately heat the point'to lthe `desired degree. A great percentage ofthe heat, however, ori-- dinarily escapes through the outlet leading troni the ilanie chamber Without .muel'l'blnelit having been derived therefrom and conse? quently must constitute a loss. To preventt-his, fiame guards or balile plates arelprovidedabove 'the-llame outlet B2Sand serve to prevent the Haine from rcoming out all. around the solderinghead, lbesides tending" to prevent the workmans yhand and lingers trom being burnt orscorched thus permitting lliim tor 4ivorkclose to the iron. Moreover, on accountot fthe surplus fire or flame striking against the batlle plates, it is pos sible to heat the soldering iron in a comi paratively' short time, the tool retaining the heat vfor soi'ne'tiineI even after 'thelgas has vbeen shut down.l lWlii'le the Abaille plates may 'be of any suitable construction, in the pre'iferred embodiment of Ithe invention. they are made integral With the 'soldering head and 'form the outer walls ot the outlet passages 3l. Thesel baffle plates are indicated by the numeral 34 in the several vievf's of the drawings.

When the tool is heated by natural gas -or the like, a gas mixer and burner of the type illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings is used. However, to "use the soldering iron in connection 4with a gas tanlt, a special `burner or gas mixer of the type illustrated in Figure .frniust 'be eufiplofeil, 'together Vwith hose connection 18. This special Eburner yconip-r'i's'es an elongated tubular body' 35 having a 'reduced neck .portion 36 exterior'ly threaded @for engagement with valve 'body 28 and bored internally to receive a vneedle valve ol conventional type. The needle valve opening 37 communicates with thev tern'iinal end of an elongated recess 38 which constitutes themixing and flame chamber of the burner. This chamber is provided with a flared end 39 which permits the flame to spread out Whenthe. soldering head is disengaged from the burner. The burner is exterio'rly threuded'as at d0, 'for engagement with threaded socket 22 of the soldering head and is provided, with all' ducts -ll converging ii'iwardly and when ignited forms a jet of flame spurting from the flared end of the burner. The gas burner can, of course, be used interchangeably with the natural gas burner and the manner of coupling them in place be tween the handle and the soldering head is exactly the same for both. The gas-cockis adapted to be used in connection with either burner and makes it possible yto adjust the supply of gas tov accord with the intensity of llame desired while the baille `plates of the head tend to utilize theheat of the flame to the maximum extent eliminate heat-waste.l p

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the invention provides a soldering iron capable of being used either with gas or natural gas and that the change from one to the and, consequently, vto

other may be instantly effected by reason of preferred form of my invention. I desire it to be understood that `I may make such changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, materials, dimensions, et cetera, as may prove expedient and fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is In a self-heating soldering iron, a head having a soldering point on one end thereof and provided with an inwardly extending axial bore terminating adjacent to the soldering point, the wall of the bore at the outer end thereof being internally threaded for the reception of a gas pipe connection, the head having a pair of spaced parallel slots therein disposed on opposite sides of the bore and terminatingshortof the opposite ends thereof and arranged in rela tive close proximity to certain side walls of the head and opening out through certain other side walls ofthe head, and means for establishing communication between the axial bore and the said parallel disposed slots.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK L. KYGER.

Witnesses WILLIAM J. BUTLER, Mrs. FRANK KYGER. 

